Maryknoll Sisters

Sister Mary Elizabeth Keyser, M.M. celebrated her 80^th Jubilee on February 12th, 2017. She was born and raised in St. Matthias Parish, Philadelphia, Sister Mary Elizabeth Keyser has worked in catechetics, as a school principal and religious education instructor during her nearly 80 years as a Maryknoll Sister.

She was initially assigned to catechetical work at the historic San Juan Bautista Mission, San Juan Bautista, CA, from 1943-1947. Then, after two years working at Bethany House, a home for ill and elderly Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, NY, Sister Mary Elizabeth was sent to Bolivia, where worked as a principal in Riberalta, then Cochabamba, for nearly ten years.

She was then sent to Chile where she taught Grades 3 through 5 in Santiago from 1959-1962, supervised religious education instruction in Talcuhano from 1962-1971, served as Executive Secretary of the Instituto de Catequesis Latino Americano in Santiago, overseeing general administration of programming from 1971-1973, provided a prayer presence, while also serving in pastoral and catechetical ministry at a local parish in El Quisco from 1974-1979, director of the Carmelite House of Prayer, Santiago, from 1979-1984, and finally as coordinator for the Center House of the Chile Region, also in Santiago, from 1990-1992.

She currently lives in retirement at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

Sister Joan Peltier, M.M. celebrated her 80^th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister on February 12th, 2017. She was born in Milwaukee, the oldest of nine children, entered the Maryknoll Sisters in l937. Before her first mission assignment to Bolivia in 1943, she completed her Bachelor’s of Education at Maryknoll Teachers College, New York.

She spent twenty-nine years in mission in Bolivia and Peru, dedicating herself to pastoral and catechetical teaching or as a primary teacher. She began her mission life in the jungle area of Riberalta, then a primary school in Cobija and later in Guayaramerin – all in Bolivia. She served as Regional Superior for twelve years until 1966.

Sister Joan served in other cities and in other capacities. She taught primary school in San Juan Capistrano, and did fund raising for the congregation in Houston before returning to South America – this time to Arequipa, Peru, where she did catechetical work in the public schools. She also helped in a day-care nursery being initiated for women working in the fields. In St. Louis she worked with physically challenged persons.

In 1975 with a desire to be in a pastoral setting in the States, Sister Joan chose to work in Breckenridge, Texas, as an associate pastor, serving in five rural Catholic communities with Sister Catherine Sullivan. The sisters were well received in these communities whose members were mostly Spanish-speaking. She returned for two years to her first mission, Bolivia.

Wanting to remain active, she joined other semi-retired Maryknoll Sisters in a house in West Haven, CT. When that house closed, she moved to another convent in Yonkers, NY.

She celebrated her seventy-fifth anniversary in 2012, the 100th anniversary of the Maryknoll Sisters, and continues to spread her joy and talents generously with all at the Center.

Sister Marie Corinne Rost, M.M. celebrated her 80^th Jubilee on February 12th, 2017. Sister Marie Corinne Rost entered Maryknoll in 1937 from her home diocese of the Immaculate Conception in Jefferson City, Missouri. She acquired a Bachelor of Science in Music at Manhattanville College, New York City in 1942. Her first assignment was at San Juan Bautista in Central California where she was a Catechist and Parish Minister from 1942-1943 and her next assignment was at Los Angeles in a Children’s Home from 1943-1945.

Sister Marie Corinne was assigned to Hong Kong in 1946. At Kowloon she taught in the Primary and Secondary Section of Maryknoll Convent School as a piano teacher from 1947-1955 and a Primary School teacher from 1955-1967 where she taught Music, Religion and English. From 1967-1977 she was Principal of the Primary Section. Again she was Supervisor of the same Maryknoll Convent School in Kowloon and gave private English and Piano lessons to students from 1977-1983.

Her next assignment was to St. Joseph’s in Hong Kong doing Pastoral Work, specifically religious education from 1986-1991. Later in 1991 she was assigned to Homantin in kowloon, Hong kong, teaching English and engaging herself in a broad program of religious and cultural activity as well as relief work in the teeming resettlement areas of Hong kong until 1995.

After her retirement in 1996, Sister Marie Corinne was assigned to Monrovia, CA by the Congregational Leadership Team. In 2007, she moved from Monrovia to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where her prayer ministry is Sudan, Maryknoll-Mission Education/Promotion.

Sister Mary Powers, M.M. celebrated her 75^th Jubilee on February 12th, 2017. She was born in Fall River, Massachusetts.  Before joining Maryknoll in 1942, she had worked for five years, as an agent for a periodical publisher’s service. When asked why she joined Maryknoll Sister Mary said, “I wanted to be a missionary and when I visited Maryknoll I just knew it was right for me.”

Sister Mary made her first vows in 1945 and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Maryknoll Teachers College, in 1948. That same year, she made her final commitment as a Maryknoll Sister.

In 1949, Sister Mary received her first mission assignment to Hawaii where she worked for 25 years in the field of education, serving as a teacher and administrator on both the elementary and high school levels.

From 1976-1981, Sister Mary worked at Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York, where she served in the treasury department and as the supervisor of the direct mail office.  Sister Mary returned to Hawaii in 1981 as an administrative assistant for the guidance department and student services at Maryknoll High School.

After decades in the field of education, Sister Mary’s ministry took on a new dimension in 1984. Sister Mary, with the help of the health department, started Project Respect, an interfaith service for the frail elderly, funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Sister Mary served as the director of the project.

In 2010, Sister Mary retired at the Center and her prayer ministry is the Central Pacific.

Sister Pauline Sticka, M.M. celebrated her 75^th Jubilee on February 12th, 2017. She was born in North Dakota. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation in 1942. Sister Pauline holds a B.A. in community service from Mary Rogers College, Maryknoll, NY.

Having been assigned to China in 1947, and after studying the language, Sr. Pauline did catechetical work for three years in Kaying, Sialoc, and Laofukeo. In 1950, she was taken prisoner under the Communist regime.

Returning to the United States, Sister Pauline worked in the Maryknoll Sisters Development Department before undertaking catechetical ministry once again, this time in Chicago’s Chinatown, for three years.

Sister Pauline then spent 48 years ministering to the people in Taiwan, where she served in pastoral, catechetical and women’s ministries. She also gave Marriage Encounter courses and trained the local people to do the same. Sister Pauline speaks the Hakka, Taiwanese and Mandarin languages. She was engaged in a “neighborhood ministry” giving Christian witness to those of other faiths.

In 2008, Sister Pauline returned to the United States to retire in Monrovia, CA, where she continued to share in mission with her many gifts and talents. She has been a part of the Eden Community at Maryknoll Sisters Center, Ossining, NY, since 2014.

Sister Barbara Barr, M.M. celebrated her 70^th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister on February 12th, 2017. She was born in the Canal Zone of the Republic of Panama and entered Maryknoll Sisters in 1947. Assigned to Bolivia in 1952, she taught in Maryknoll Elementary Schools throughout the country. She also did In-service Education of Teachers. By1972,”we helped turn over the schools to lay women teachers whom we had been training for years.Then I began working with informal groups in the rural areas.Together we developed a popular “informal” education program for Scripture study groups as well as groups for empowering and promoting Women.” Sister has also served in Congregational Services at Maryknoll, NY where she now participates in the Rogers Community.

Sister Marilyn Evans, M.M. celebrated her 70^th Jubilee on February 12th, 2017. She is from Minneapolis, MN, a Montessori Early Education specialist, believes that education is a family affair.  Maybe that is why she’s just at home with elderly missioners as she has been with preschoolers.

A Maryknoll Sister for nearly 70 years, Sister Marilyn served for many years as coordinator of the Montessori Education Center at Maryknoll School, Honolulu, HI.  She then took three years off to serve as a social work assistant at Maryknoll Sisters Nursing Home ( now known as Maryknoll Home Care) where she worked with elderly and infirm members of her congregation.

Then, in 1991, came the request from Maryknoll Bishop Quinn Weitzel, MM, to serve in America Samoa. The bishop had visited the Education Center in Hawaii and been impressed with what was being accomplished and how the students were responding.  It seemed a perfect fit for the children in America Samoa, he thought, so he asked Sister Marilyn to begin a Montessori program for the school they had already set up there.

So would begin more than 20 years of ministry which, while sometimes challenging, would bring a great deal of satisfaction and joy to Sister Marilyn’s heart. “They have such beautiful customs and culture,” she recalled while chatting with one of our staff upon her return the United States in 2013. “It was so interesting to learn their culture and meet them that way. To meet their ideals and understanding and even have them learn about our culture, as well, particularly our high respect for children.”

During her more than two decades on the Island, she not only contributed to the lives of children but also provided the specialized training necessary for anyone who wanted to teach in a Montessorry school. Over time, several schools opened.  At first, the Sisters ran the schools; then, finally, as is always the plan of any Maryknoll missioner, the local people were ready and released to run the schools on their own.

Now retired and living at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Monrovia, CA, Sister Marilyn hopes to find avenues in which to exercise her gifts and experience and her love for children in the local area, near Los Angeles, or help in any other way that she can.

Sister Jean Fallon, M.M. celebrated her 70^th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister on February 12th, 2017. She was born in Seattle, WA, on May 7, 1930, Sister Jean Fallon entered Maryknoll sisters from St. Joseph’s Parish, Seattle, at their motherhouse, Maryknoll, NY, on September 6, 1947.  She made her first profession on March 7, 1950, receiving the religious name Sister M. Therese Martin, and her final vows on March 7, 1953, in Saiin, Japan.

Her first assignment was as a parish catechetical worker in Kyoto, Japan, where she served from 1951-1953. She then continued the same work at a parishes in Saiin, Japan, from 1953-1955; Ostu from 1955-1962, Takano from 1962-1965, and Yokkaichi from 1965-1969.

Sister Jean then returned to Kyoto where she was an English teacher as well as parish worker there, as well as in Tsu and Mie Ken from 1969-1971.  She was then appointed to the congregation’s Regional Governing Board, working as well in communications, retreat work, as a bookkeeper and English teacher from 1971-1973. She also worked in Christian community formation in 1973.

Sister Jean then returned to the United States, where she served on the congregation’s World Awareness Team for the western States from 1974-1979.

Later in 1979, she returned to Japan, where she first became involved in justice and peace ministry, conducting exposure programs for religious, while also serving as a media work translator and English teacher, from 1979-2000.

She then returned to the United States, where she worked as an associate of Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY, from 2001-2006.  She continues to be active in speaking and demonstrating on peace and justice issues in the New York Metropolitan area, as well as serving short-term with Christian Peacemaker Teams, an organization working for peace in the most deeply war-torn areas of the world.

Sister Rose Guercio, M.M. celebrated her 70^th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister on February 12th, 2017. She was born in Astoria, NY and joined Maryknoll Sisters in 1947. She earned her R.N. from St. Mary’s School of Nursing, Rochester, Minnesota. Sister Rose was assigned to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1955, and supervised medical wards in a government hospitals until government regulations caused the Sisters departure.

Sister Rose was assigned to Korea in 1959 and her ministry was at the Maryknoll Hospital at Pusan. She was clinic supervisor and assistant administrator. Sister Rose then studied at Yonsei University in Seoul and from 1969-71, she worked at the Maryknoll Fathers Okchon Clinic in Chung Puk Do supervising and administering the clinic and initiating maternal/child health care programs. As an “exemplary health worker,”  Sister Rose was awarded a Civil Merit Medal.

For Sister Rose, “As a nurse the caring aspect of my work rather than the curing aspect became much more important.”

From 1972 until 1979, Sister Rose went to Jeung Pyeong where her main concern was to develop preventive health services. Sister Rose was Director-Founder of a pioneering Medical Insurance Cooperative, enrolling families with an affordable fee. The governor of Jeung Pyeong made her an honorary citizen of the province. “Not only has she given an example to all in the local community of her love and concern for our people but in the medical profession, Sister Rose has given freely of her time and energy.”

From 1979 – 1984, Sister Rose served as Assistant Treasurer at Maryknoll, N.Y. She returned to Korea in 1984 and became involved with work for the Korean Bishops’ Conference at the National Catholic Justice and Peace Commission. In 1994, Sister Rose worked at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and returned to korea in 1999 where she served as the International Coordinator of the Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice. Sister Rose retired in 2006 and is now residing at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

Sister Margaret Hennessey, M.M. celebrated her 70^th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister on February 12th, 2017. Sister Margaret, known to all as Peg, forms part of a pastoral/medical team that works with the poor and homeless and those afflicted with HIV/AIDS in Lima, Peru.

Sister Peg Hennessey of Flushing, NY entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation in 1947, having graduated from Bishop McDonnell High School in Brooklyn, NY. After earning her R.N. at St.Catherine’s Hospital School of Nursing, Sister Peg was assigned to Bolivia in 1953 where she worked in a parish clinic in Cochabamba for three years. She then went to the jungle mission of Riberalta, Beni, Bolivia, where she worked in the Sisters’ hospital. In 1960 she was assigned to the town of Azangaro in the Altiplano of Peru, where she did home visiting and worked in an out-patient clinic. After 3 years, the town of Juli, Peru, received her. There she did catechetical work. Sister Peg also did nursing in a government clinic. It was there that she saw the need for health education. She then began to teach in the newly formed Rural Life Institute. Sister returned to the U.S. where she earned a B.A. in Community Service. Returning to Peru, she continued her nursing and health education as well as the training of Rural Life Promoters in the town of Ilave, another Altiplano area. 1976 found Sister Peg in Lima, Peru, where she was instrumental in founding the Peruvian Missionary Society with Fr. Tom Garrity, M.M. She continued her formation work for the next 4 years in Villa El Salvador while becoming active in nursing those afflicted with tuberculosis. In 1984 Sister moved to the pueblo of Pachacamac in Lima where she again worked with those with tuberculosis, the #1 cause of death both among the poor of Lima and among women of childbearing age. She considered that tuberculosis was caused as much by poverty as by germs. “While living in Pachacamac some of my neighbors were afflicted with AIDS and I started to learn more about this recent disease. Over the last few years this has led to my participation on a team that visits HIV/AIDS patients both at home and in the hospital. Some of the team members also prepare monthly retreat days for the patients. I continue to care for people with TB.” It was here that Sr. Peg began Health-Life and Hope, a group that tried to help members overcome ignorance, isolation and despair.

Currently, Sr. Margaret has returned to the Sisters Center where she in an active member of the Chi Rho community.